A class action lawsuit has been launched against Sunniva Inc. and its subsidiary Natural Health Services after patient information was breached.
“I had incorrectly assumed my medical information would be properly stored when I filled out the form,” said Clayton Hannah, the representative plaintiff for the Alberta class.
The class action, filed by Diamond & Diamond Lawyers LLP, said 34,000 people may have been affected by a data breach of confidential patient information.
“The defendant failed to protect our client’s most sacred information,” said Jeremy Diamond, manager partner at Diamond and Diamond Lawyers.
The firm said diagnostic results, health care numbers, medical information, forms and completed questionnaires are among the information disclosed between Dec. 4, 2018 and Jan. 7, 2019.
“This breach could have far reaching implications for thousands of us in terms of cross border travel or when trying to obtain insurance,” said Hannah.
“It is our hope such a suit will ensure future safeguards are put into place,” Diamond added.
The company issued a statement to CTV News on March 29:
“We have been working with privacy protection and law enforcement authorities to investigate and respond to this breach. The investigation is ongoing and we cannot comment further on it, or this litigation, other than to say that we will be defending this action,” said Dr. Mark Kimmins, president of Natural Health Services.
The law firm invites anyone who provided personal information to Natural Health Services to contact them at 1-800-567-4878 or online.
